Rebirth
by Y.B.-Hageman
Summary: The short tale of Prince Albrecht and his possession by Diablo.


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Prince Albrecht, Archbishop Lazarus, or Diablo. I am also not the creator of the Tristram Monastaries or the catacombs therein.

As far as I know, nobody has ever done anything with this scene. So, let me know what you think of it, please.

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Prince Albrecht awoke upon the cold hard floor of a dark room awash with a blood red light. This was not his room in the castle. _Where am I_? He stood up and looked around noticing that the red light came from a stone upon a pedestal, the edges of the room were cloaked behind a wall of darkness. His heartbeat began to quicken, he was in a strange room, with a strange stone, and, no matter how alone he seemed, he felt a dark presence surrounding him.

Behind him something pattered and slithered, like a large reptile dragging its tail along the floor. His breath hitched as he spun around only to come face to face with the shadows. His body began to feel damp. A rustling of wings and a clicking of sharp claws on stone caused him to spin around and come face to face with the strange red stone again.

Now fully panting and sweating he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. It's not real, just the mind playing tricks. He breathed out a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. Only to meet the sunken eyes and gaunt features of a man. He yelped and hopped back falling to his butt; he stared up at the man. Realizing who it was relief spread across his face.

"A-Archbishop Lazarus, thank goodness… we need to get out of... Wherever we are." The Archbishop simply stared down at the young prince with his sunken eyes. Then he turned away from the boy and began to walk slowly to the stone.

"We are in the deepest room of the catacombs, beneath the old monastery." He spoke with a dry, harsh voice. As he reached the pedestal he put out his hand and, reverently, he picked the stone up.

Again there came the sound of a dragging tail and a hiss. The prince spoke up, his voice pitched with fear. "We need to get out of here, there's something wrong with this place."

"No young prince, there is nothing wrong here. What you feel in this room is nothing but power, the power of my master." His cheek twitched, as if he had tried to smile but his withered flesh could not summon the effort.

"W-What do you mean 'your master', you serve my father and the Holy Light." He was breathing heavily and sweating.

Lazarus unleashed a bark of laughter. "No, no, my boy. I serve a much greater master than either of those." He began walking toward the prince, carrying the stone and its bloody glow with him.

The Prince began to back away. "W-what do you want with me."

"My master is strong, but he needs a body to be at his strongest."

Albrecht swallowed and began backing away. Lazarus continued his explanation. "Truthfully, my Master wanted your father. He was a strong man and would have given my master even more power with his position." Lazarus licked his upper lip. "Unfortunately, he proved too strong for my master to possess at a distance."

"What are you talking about?!" Albrecht screamed at him.

"Oh, come now." Lazarus sneered. "Your father has been falling into the depths of madness since I discovered my Master; I'm actually surprised no one has figured it out yet."

Albrecht glanced around; the light from the stone had traveled with Lazarus and there to his right laid an arming sword. He grabbed it and pointed it at Lazarus, the tip swayed, but only slightly. "Stay away from me!"

He thrust the sword into Lazarus' stomach causing the Archbishop to stagger to a stop, the tip of the sword sticking a few inches out of his back, his head fell forward. Suddenly, his head shot up, his hand grabbed the blade of the sword and pulled it out with such force that Albrecht went flying back.

"Come now child! I'm beyond such trivial wounds!"

As the prince staggered up to his feet panting and gasping for breath he grabbed the sword again and hastily looked around him. The bloody light of the Stone had reached the back wall of the room revealing a vaulted archway and the stairway beyond.

Albrecht turned and ran up the stairs. The stairway was thick with shadow. Suddenly wings flapped to his right. Yelping, he lashed out with his sword striking the stone wall. He stood panting facing the wall a growl came from his left, up the stairs only a few feet away. He thrust the sword into the air, there was nothing there.

He ran, ignoring the phantom sounds, until at last, he came to a heavy wood door. He shoved it open, coming face to face with Archbishop Lazarus. The prince stopped short and made to slash at him with the sword but Lazarus grabbed his wrist and twisted it, forcing his palm to open. The sword clattered to the ground. He lifted the stone above his head and plunged it into the princes' forehead.

Albrecht fell backwards rolling down the stairs, head over heels. He hit the bottom and continued rolling into the now room. The prince heaved himself up onto all fours as he expelled what food he had eaten, for a moment it stopped and he gasped in a breath, than he continued throwing up. It felt like his insides were being pushed out of his mouth. Finally, he stopped and suddenly two ram like horns erupted from the sides of his head, spewing blood. His skin began to burn, turning red and his fingernail became black and long and sharp.

Gasping and panting, crying blood, he staggered to his feet praying for it to end. His muscles bulged and his flesh distorted as black spikes erupted from his back then with a great tearing noise his flesh erupted and a large demon covered in the blood and pulpy bloody remains of what was once the flesh of Prince Albrecht stood. The demon stood to his full height and released a high pitched roar. The sixteenth floor of the catacombs, below the monastery of Tristram, warped becoming a bridge linking the world of man to the Burning Hells.

The Archbishop kneeled before the demon god and called. "All hail Diablo, The Lord of Terror!" His voice was echoed by hundreds of thousands of inhuman voices from hell.


End file.
